Newark found their stride to gain tries

A big thank you to all the players who made the trip this time

Newark travelled for a second successive season to start the new campaign at Hinckley and came away heartened by a hectic friendly which saw both teams score six tries.

Hinckley dominated at the start but Newark found their stride to gain tries through Neil McKenna, Francis Appleton, Joe Green, Aloesi Waqalevu, Jordan Hempstead and Mikey Boyd. Last year Newark failed to score a point, losing 45-0.

A big thank you to all the players who made the trip this time.

Pre-season training continues this Tuesday and Thursday at 7.30pm. All players - old and new - welcome.

Next Saturday a further friendly takes place at Market Rasen, kick off 2.15pm.

Here’s the match report from Hinckley put together by playing chairman Pete Mitchell.

Pete writes:

The pitch was in great condition and the weather was ideal for an early season encounter.

Hinckley kicked off and initially Newark put together some good phases until knocking-on in the centre of the field.
From the resulting scrum, it was Hinckley’s turn to apply the pressure until they gave away a penalty near the Newark line.
Billy Charles took a quick tap and a flowing Newark took the ball to the Hinckley line.

Unfortunately, Newark were not able to capitalise on this and a clearing kick took play back to the half way line. From the resulting lineout, the Hinckley back line ran some good lines to get the first try in the corner.
Conversion completed, 7 – 0.

From the restart, good carries by Appleton and Waqalevu took Newark well into the Hinckley 22, but again the final finish wasn’t to be. A scrum infringement gave Hinckley a penalty and a long kick gave them a good attacking position in the Newark half.

From the resulting lineout, some clinical Hinckley back play, aided by some poor Newark defensive work led to another Hinckley try in the corner.
Conversion completed. 14 – 0.

From the restart, some decisive Hinckley play from both forwards and backs saw another score and conversion. 25 minutes played, 21 – 0.
Shortly afterwards, a Newark knock on gave Hinckley a scrum on the Newark 10m line. A well-rehearsed move exposed the Newark defence and the Hinckley 12 cut through to score another try – also converted. 28 – 0.

After a period of scrappy play from both sides, a scrum to Newark saw Waqalevu make a strong break through the centre, backed up by Billy Charles who was then able to put Neil McKenna in to score in the corner. Missed conversion 28 – 5.

A lifted Newark side then applied the pressure and a clever box kick from Billy Charles took the play towards the Hinckley line. Some strong forward pressure saw Francis Appleton force his way over to give Newark a second score.
No conversion 28 – 10.

In the second half, there were periods of sustained pressure from both sides. However, it was Hinckley who scored next when the Newark scrumhalf became isolated and lost the ball to gift Hinckley a try between the posts.
Conversion completed 35 – 10.

It was straight from the restart that the Newark forwards built up the phases and finally combined with the backs to enable Joe Green to roll himself through the Hinckley defence and score under the posts.
A Connor Slack conversion 35 – 17.

Both sides then had chances to score but it was Newark who took the next opportunity. Waqalevu, was looking in great form and after some good Newark passing he broke through to score in the left corner.
No conversion, 35 – 22.

Newark were back in the game and some strong forward play took them to the Hinckley line - finally allowing Jordan Hempstead to force his way over the line.
No conversion, 35 – 27.

However, from the restart, a tiring Newark side were guilty of some poor tackling and gave Hinckley the opportunity to score an easy try under the posts.
Conversion completed, 42 – 27.

Straight from the restart Newark hunted down the ball and after some determined pressure it was Mikey Boyd who broke free to score a fine try just before the final whistle. A Billy Charles conversion rounded off the day to give a final score of 42 – 34.

This was an entertaining game with both sides showing some good skills throughout. 6 tries each - with only the conversion kicking making the difference was a very satisfactory result.

Due to the slightly depleted numbers, there was little chance for player substitutions during the game. This also meant that some of the Newark backs turned themselves into forwards for parts of the game.
So, a really good effort - reinforced by a great team spirit for the entire game when it would have been so easy to throw the towel in at 28 – 0 down.